Many changes and additions happening in patch 5.3

Well that escalated quickly-World of Warcraft’s newest patch, “Escalation” hits live servers today! One of the biggest mechanics altering patches of Mists of Pandaria, 5.3 is adding a ton of new content, and making some big changes to already existing systems. For detailed information, you can check out Blizzard’s official content page for 5.3 here, and for all of your guides, details, and answers to your questions, heading over to WoWhead’s 5.3 guide is also a must.

This patch includes a lot of major changes that many players have been anticipating for a while. Blizzard is fleshing outits ideas and plans that were outlined and begun at the start of the expansion. Four new Scenarios are added to the roster, giving players more avenues to explore the lore of Warcraft in a way that is short and sweet.

Also being added are “specialization choices.” In other words, you can highlight your role so that the gear that drops specific to you (from quests or bonus rolls in LFR), is tailored to your character so that you are more likely to be able to equip it. Item upgrades are also coming back, with new costs and specifics. The Brawler’s Guild is also getting some much needed love with new fights, new rewards and a hint from Blizzard that we might get to fight some of our favorite evil-doers from past Warcraft encounters.

Many of the biggest changes in 5.3 are directed at the PvP community. A new arena hits the scene, allowing for a little more diversity in the arena roster.

A new 15v15 Battleground, Deepwind Gorge, is also being thrust into the game with a lot of interesting qualities that separate it from the current Battlegrounds offered in the game. Moreover, many changes to the way PvP gear works are happening, most notably, the vast majority of PvP gear is getting its Resilience removed and players over level 85 are getting a base 65% Resilience that is innate to their character. Resilience is still obtainable through gems, but it won’t be the dominant factor in stat choice as before.

While we don’t see a new Raid with 5.3, I think that Blizzard has proven with this patch that they can add a ton of content, without having to necessarily push out a raid with every patch. So what are you waiting for, servers just went live, and there’s a ton to do in Azeroth!